Land-based resources
On the ground: firefighters, CCF and military units
Aircraft make the headlines, but it is the ground crew who secure the victory: no forest fire is extinguished without the men and women who hold back the fire’s advance, smother the embers and defend people’s homes. 253,000 firefighters, thousands of fire-resistant water tankers and military rescue personnel from the Civil Protection Service.
Key points
- France has 253,000 firefighters (80% of volunteers) spread across 97 SDIS — all trained in forest fire risk in vulnerable areas.
- The CCF, an all-terrain tanker lorry with a protected cab, is the workhorse : deployed in GIFF (groups of 4 vehicles + a command vehicle).
- The reinforcing columns bring together GIFFs from all over France to the departments in crisis — up to several thousand firefighters in the summer.
- The ForMiSC (UIISC units from Nogent-le-Rotrou, Corte and Brignoles) are military firefighters who can be deployed anywhere, specialising in fighting established fires.
- The most crucial work often goes unnoticed: blending the edges and checking the stitching, for hours on end, even at night.
The three earthly pillars
Fire Service (SDIS)
GIFF, backup units, command: how 97 fire and rescue services are organising themselves to tackle fires.
Read the factsheet ≈ 5,000 vehiclesCCF tanker lorry
Heat-resistant cab, self-protection via a water spray system, 4×4: a vehicle designed to get close to the flames.
ForMiSC (UIISC)
Civil Protection rescue teams: national reinforcements that can be deployed within a matter of hours.
Read the factsheetWhy the fire spreads along the ground
A water drop from a Canadair aircraft suppresses the flames for a few minutes: if no one takes advantage of this window of opportunity, the fire flares up again. The reality of extinguishing a fire is a series of ground-based actions: direct attack with spears on the flanks, ad hoc defence from homes (often from cleared gardens — the OLD is not a mere formality; it is what makes defence possible), drowning methodical clearing of the edges, followed by hours of monitoring of take-overs, with a thermal camera in hand.
This mechanism is based on a tried-and-tested structure: the GIFF (4 CCFs + command unit, ~20 firefighters) as the building block, the reinforcing columns interdepartmental bodies acting as a multiplier, and a single chain of command under the authority of the COS. The options DFCI and the underground cisterns, which are maintained throughout the year, provide these vehicles with access to the mountains — see our DFCI map.
At night, the advantage shifts to the other side
When the planes land at sunset, the work on the ground continues. At night, the humidity rises, the wind often dies down, and the fire slows : that’s when the ground crews take over, lay out the firebreaks and tackle the hotspots — whilst the Super Puma Those equipped for night-time flight can continue with the airdrops. This is more of an endurance race than a speed race, which explains why the columns organise relief rotations.
Follow these updates live.
Aircraft and helicopters in the air, active fires, today’s alerts: the real-time maps on the Forest Fires website link each page in this section to the situation on the ground. And if you witness a fire breaking out, call 112 first and foremost.